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Update: Now is the last chance to apply and get your card on time to get a 2016 airline credit. You will also be able to get the 2017 and 2018 airline credit in your first cardmembership year.
Originally posted on 12/18:
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Last month I explained the extreme value offered by “hybrid cards” like Chase Sapphire Reserve® and AMEX Business Platinum.
Due to how Chase calculates the annual spend credit, it’s likely too late to apply for a Sapphire Reserve now and take advantage of 3 travel refunds in your first cardmembership year.
Signup bonus: 100K Offer Expired
Airline fee credits:
AMEX gives you until 12/31 each year to get spend and get refunded for airline fee refunds, so it’s an excellent time to apply for the Business Platinum card. If you apply for a card now you can use the 2016 credit by 12/31/16, the 2017 credit anytime in 2017, and the 2018 credit all in your first cardmembership year. That’s $600 in airline fee refunds!
You need to register with a specific airline before spending. After you register for an airline you can officially only change your airline in January. However if you haven’t yet used your credit that year you should be able to change it by calling or chatting with AMEX.
Note that the airline you choose will also be the airline that you get back 50% of your points back when redeeming for coach travel. You may want to hold off on spending the $200 until the end of the year if you want to be able to change the airline more easily during the year. You also get back 50% of your points on all airlines in business and first class redemptions without having to register for an airline. It takes about a day to get the 50% points rebate.
You can view sample items that qualify for a airline fee refund here.
“Hybrid Points”
The card is truly game changing thanks to the ability to choose whether to transfer points into airline miles when tickets are expensive.
You can transfer points to airlines like ANA, Air Canada, or Singapore for Star Alliance travel. Points transfer to Aeromexico, Alitalia, Air France/KLM, or Delta for Skyteam travel. Transfer to BA, Cathay Pacific, or Iberia for OneWorld travel. Other transfer options include El Al, Emirates, Etihad, Hawaiian, Virgin America, or Virgin Atlantic. This can make sense for one-way, last-minute, or premium class travel. The value with airline miles can be under a cent each if used poorly, but properly used the points can be worth 5 cents, 10 cents, 15 cents, or even more per point, the sky is the limit.
Otherwise you can choose to use them for paid tickets when tickets are less expensive at an whopping 2 cents (or higher) value per point. When you use them for paid tickets you don’t pay any taxes and you still earn miles for the flight!
AMEX also offers insider fares on select routes that can make your points be worth as much as 2.5 cents toward paid airfare!
You can login to your account and redeem AMEX points for travel here. If you want to redeem for travel on Southwest then you’ll need to call AMEX to book.
This hybrid redemption ability makes your points very valuable.
When you combine the card with other AMEX cards you can make your spending even more lucrative.
Supercharge your spending:
-If you spend more than $5,000 on the Business Platinum card you’ll also get 1.5 points per dollar, worth at least 3% back.
However other purchases only earn 1 point each. Rather than doing that you can spend on these other AMEX cards that will supercharge your earnings. And you can then redeem points earned on other AMEX cards with your Business Platinum card so that the points can be transferred into miles or used at a value of at least 2 cents each towards paid tickets!
You can apply for other AMEX cards on the same day and only have 1 credit pull.
-If you have the $95/year AMEX Everyday Preferred and make 30 transactions per month you will earn 4.5 points per dollar at US supermarkets, 3 points per dollar at US gas stations, 2.5 points per dollar on Uber, and 1.5 points per dollar everywhere else. With a Business Platinum card that’s a minimum of 9% back at US supermarkets, 6% back at US gas stations, 5% back on Uber, and 3% back everywhere else.
-If you have the no annual fee AMEX Everyday card and make 20 transactions per month you will earn 2.4 points per dollar at US supermarkets, 2.2 points per dollar on Uber, and 1.2 points per dollar everywhere else. With a Business Platinum card that’s a minimum of 4.8% back at US supermarkets, 4.4% back on Uber, and 2.4% back everywhere else.
Offer expired! -If you have the no annual fee AMEX Blue for Business card you will earn 10.3 points per dollar at US restaurants within 6 months ($2K cap), 2.3 points per dollar everywhere for 12 months ($50K cap), and 1.3 points per dollar everywhere afterward thanks to the 30% annual points dividend. With a Business Platinum card that’s a minimum of 20.6% back at US restaurants for 6 months, 4.6% back everywhere for 12 months, and 2.6% back everywhere afterward.
-If you have the consumer Platinum Card you’ll earn 5 points per dollar on airfare. With a Business Platinum card that’s a minimum of 10% back
-If you have the Premier Rewards Gold card you will earn 3 points per dollar on airfare, 2 points per dollar at US supermarkets, gas stations, and restaurants. With a Business Platinum card that’s a minimum of 6% back on airfare, and 4% back at US supermarkets, gas stations, and restaurants.
-If you have the AMEX Business Gold you will earn 3 points per dollar on your choice of 1 category and 2 points per dollar in the other categories consisting of: airfare, advertising, gas stations, shipping, or computer hardware+software+cloud computing. With a Business Platinum card that’s a minimum of 4-6% back. Plus with Open Savings you’ll get an additional 5% cash back on Fedex, Hertz, or HP, for a total of up to 11% back from Fedex or HP.
Annual fee:
The Business Platinum card costs $450/year. But AMEX has now made that fee a very good value thanks to the ability to make all of your AMEX points worth at least 2 cents each.
The airline fee refunds also help take the sting out of the fee.
Plus there are a plethora of other benefits:
Charge card benefits:
Rather than being limited to a fixed credit line, these cards offer flexibility to spend far more, with the caveat that it needs to be paid back in full on the due date.
Gold elite status with 3 hotel chains:
Both Platinum cards offer Starwood Gold, Hilton Gold, and Marriott Gold elite status.
You can enroll online here for Hilton Gold status. You can also enroll additional cardholders for Gold status, but that needs to be done over the phone.
You need to call 800-525-3355 and select option 3 for Starwood Gold status.
Once you have Starwood Gold status you can match that online instantly to Marriott Gold status.
Hilton Gold status gets you upgrades, bonus points, 5th night free on awards, late checkout, breakfast, and bottled water. Free breakfast doesn’t usually do much for me as a kosher traveler, but we had the pleasure of staying at the Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem last year where we were treated to a fantastic daily breakfast, which is free for Hilton Gold and Diamond members. There is a mind-boggling quantity of awesome kosher food there, from dozens of daily hot dishes to hard cheeses, fresh fruits and pastries to fresh squeezed juices, as well as on-demand dishes like french toast, pancakes, waffles, and eggs. Unlimited wine, hot or cold chocolate drinks, and espresso drinks are included as well.
Starwood Gold status gets you late checkout, more points per dollar spent at SPG hotels, and a 250 point amenity on stays, even when redeeming points. Starwood elites can also register here to earn Starpoints on Delta flights on top of the regular Delta miles in addition to other benefits while Delta elites can get benefits at SPG hotels.
-Centurion lounge access:
American Express has operated Centurion lounges in Argentina, Brazil, India, and Mexico for some time. Now they are expanding in the US market with lounges operating in Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, LaGuardia, Miami, San Francisco, Seattle, and more to come such as Chicago and Los Angeles.
Originally the US lounges were designed for free access only for Centurion cardholders, you know them as those black cards that cost a ridiculous $2,500 per year with a $7,500 initiation fee that used to give elite status on airlines like Continental and USAirways but now is down to just Delta.
But once the Platinum card started losing airline lounges due to exclusivity with other banks AMEX opened it up to Platinum cardholders for free as well.
Primary and additional cardholders can access the lounge and they can each bring their spouse and kids into the lounge for free. Or they can bring in any 2 other people with them for free.
The lounges offer varying amenities like premium drinks, showers, and massages. And as they are staffed by AMEX you can even get help with account issues and access the lounge even if you forget your Platinum card.
-Priority Pass membership.
You can enroll here for a Priority Pass membership.
Unfortunately this membership doesn’t include any free guests, but additional Platinum cardholders can get their own free Priority Pass membership.
Lounges include the Art & Lounge in Newark which is the lounge that El Al provides for their business and first class passengers. It offers kosher food, wine, and Israeli art. In Tel Aviv you can access the Dan lounge.
See the Priority Pass site for their complete list of lounges.
Priority Pass gives access to the full network of “The Club” with 8 domestic lounges and growing.
Airspace lounges:
Currently there are Airspace lounges in Cleveland, JFK (JetBlue T5 terminal), and San Diego.
Primary and additional cardholders can access the lounge and they can each bring their spouse and kids into the lounge for free. Or they can bring in any 2 other people with them for free.
These are modern lounges with free premium coffee, bottles water, and self service soft drinks. Additionally you and every guest also gets a gift card valid towards purchasing premium alcohol, local craft beers, cocktails, and meals.
Delta SkyClub:
You can access Delta lounges for free with a Platinum card when flying on Delta. You don’t get any free guests, but additional Platinum cardholders can access Delta lounges for free as well.
The Delta SkyClub in JFK even sells kosher meals if you need one!
Global Entry/Pre-Check Fee Refund
It costs $85 to apply for a 5 year TSA Pre-Check membership which makes flying pleasant again. Shorter lines, no need to remove your shoes, belt, jacket, or hat. You can keep your laptop and freedom baggie with liquids in your carry-on. And you go through a good old fashioned metal detector instead of assuming the position in a nude-o-scope. If you charge it on your Platinum card the fee will be refunded.
It costs $100 to apply for a 5 year Global Entry membership which lets you bypass the customs line. If you have Global Entry you also get TSA Pre-Check. If you charge it on your Platinum card the fee will be refunded.
You can read more more about the differences in this post.
Additional cardholders qualify for a Pre-Check or Global Entry fee refund as well.
My whole family has Global Entry and it sure makes traveling a whole lot easier!
Unlimited worldwide Boingo WiFi:
With either Platinum card you now get free unlimited Boingo Wi-Fi worldwide, perfect for avoiding confiscatory rates at airports when traveling. Search from over 1 million hot-spots here.
Enroll for free Boingo access here.
Gogo In-Flight Wi-Fi:
With the Business Platinum card only, you get 10 annual Gogo flight passes to use on any flight with Gogo internet.
You can enroll here for your free passes.
Lost Item Protection:
If you buy something on your Platinum card up to $10,000 and lose it within 90 days of purchase it will be fully covered. Many cards offer stolen item protection, but that requires a police report to be filed and often has a cap of just $1,000.
Car Rental Perks:
A 4 hour late return fee-free grace period at Hertz and fee-waived Gold Plus membership and National Executive guarantee upgrades and faster free award rentals.
The card also comes with free checked baggage insurance and it has no foreign exchange fees. And of course it comes with all of the amazing purchase protections that other American Express cards have as well.
Business vs Consumer Platinum card:
-The consumer card’s advantages are now the 5 points per dollar on airfare and the inexpensive additional user fees.
-The business card’s advantages are now the 50% bonus points for spending $5,000+, the GoGo WiFi passes, Open Savings rebates on purchases from Fedex, HP, Hertz, and more. But the main advantage is the 50% rebate for using points for airfare.
AMEX business cards don’t appear on your credit report. That’s good for several reasons.
First of all they won’t count against your 5/24 count for opening new Chase cards. Only cards on your report that have been opened within the past 24 months count for that.
Second, when you spend money on personal cards your credit score will be hurt even if you pay your bill on time. A whopping 30% of your credit score is based on credit utilization. You can pay off your card bill before your statement is generated to avoid that, but that takes effort and laying out money well before you have to. Additionally it’s good to have the statement close with a couple dollars to show the card is active and being paid every month. On an AMEX business card it’s just not reported, so you can wait until the money is due without it having a negative effect on your score.
Third, if you close a business card it won’t ever have an effect on your score.
You may already have a business that needs a card to keep track of expenses. For example if your name is Joe Smith and you sell items online, or if you have any other side business and want a credit card to better keep track of business expenditures you can just open a business credit card for “Joe Smith Sole Proprietorship” as the business. You don’t need to file any messy government paperwork to be allowed to do that.
Just be sure to select “Sole Proprietorship” as the business type and just use your social security number in the Tax Identification Number field
Will you be signing up for a Business Platinum card?
Leave a Reply
57 Comments On "Now Is The Best Time To Apply For A Game-Changing AMEX Business Platinum Card; Which Cards To Use To Supercharge Your Earnings!"
All opinions expressed below are user generated and the opinions aren’t provided, reviewed or endorsed by any advertiser or DansDeals.
The 50% point rebate most be booked via Amex travel? Will amex price be parallel to priceline etc. published price? Can the ticket be booked for someone else?
@SK:
Yes.
Same price or less with insider fares.
Can be booked for anyone.
If I’m planning to buy a house in the next few months, is it OK to open a business card, or I should wait? I heard that when you apply for a business card it doesn’t affect your credit score. Is that true and what should I do? Thanks
How do you get 2018 $200 credit in first year membership?
hi dan just a question if you have delta statues on airlines would they be able to be used from points booked with amex or chase without transferring them to chase meaning if the value is better by using points for 1.5 percent from chase or 50 percent rebate for amex platnium would i be be able to utilize the silver statues that i have with delta which does not allow me to be eligible for upgrades on award tickets only payed tickets? thank you for taking the time out to answer the question
Thanks. What is insider fares? TIA
I spoke with a business consultant from American Express and he claims that if you applied for an Amex card they won’t do another pull when opening another Amex card for 30 days can anyone confirm?
Can you still get the $200 “airline credit” via MPX purchasing amazon gift cards?
Can i get the sign up bonus if i had the card in the past?
When you redeem hybird biz plat points to buy a ticket do you get Amex points for the bought ticket ? Effectivity giving you a 51â„… points rebate.
@Anonymous:
There will still be an inquiry, but the card and spending won’t show up on your report.
1 inquiry shouldn’t make a big difference in anything, but you still may want to talk to a mortgage broker.
@Eiryn:
2nd annual fee will be due around Feb 2018.
@paul:
You will earn Delta miles and elite status and get benefits with the redeem with AMEX option.
@Sk:
Discounted AMEX awards when redeeming points for paid tickets on select flights.
They come up automatically when you’re logged in and search.
@Amex:
Even if they did pull you can call Experian to have them merge the extra pull.
@Thanks Dan!:
No.
@Izzy:
Unoffically, it depends on how long ago you had the business platinum card before. But officially, no.
@Mikey:
You get miles for the flight, so it’s more than 51% anyway…
Hi Dan : How can get back 50% MR points on Southwest Airlines, If AMEX travel doesn’t book SW Airlines?
@Izzy: no, just once
There is also insider fares on VX domestic, (and other airlines for international routes), you need to be logged in to see them
and a new partnership with AA but you need to call for lower fares, as detailed recently on other blogs
Dan, I’m waiting already 8 weeks to get the 50% points back for coach tickets.Does this make sense? When I called they told me it takes up to 10 weeks.
@SW:
Sure they can!
Just call to book Southwest.
@high end hobo:
I’ve seen insider AA online. Any reports of finding more over the phone?
@Joe:
It only takes a day for most people, sounds like something went wrong.
I’d call again and ask for a manager.
Dan,
if i got an amex card in the last 2 years and got a bonus will they still give it to me now?
ive had issues with them recently on personal cards that they wont give the bonus. how do you get around that?
@sam:
As long as you haven’t had a Business Platinum then you’re good to go.
Dan,
“If you spend more than $5,000 on the Business Platinum card you’ll also get 1.5 points per dollar, worth at least 3% back.”
I’m guessing this means more than $5,000 in one single purchase, correct?
As a PRG member I was just offered to apply for the business platinum with 75k bonus miles for spending 5k in 3 months. Of course I went for it! I wasn’t even aware I could squeeze in the 2018 airline credit! Thank you Dan!
Dan, I had the regular platinum before but now I can get the business platinum bonus now, correct?
Also, if I apply today. How can you be so sure that my card will arrive by new years, and that the statement will close by the too.
Will they over-ight me a new card Today if I get approved? I want to make sure I can get the 2016 bonus
@SteveNash:
Right.
@Me:
Nice!
@Sammy:
Correct.
The card will be overnighted after approval.
@Ed:
Yes
Will multiple platinum card’s allow you to register to different airlines per card and get 50% at each?
@martin:
Sure!
Another perk is fine hotels and resorts. I just stayed at the Four Seasons Las Vegas and was able to have breakfast brought in from Rafi’s count towards the $60 credit as well as a $100 spa credit on a $160 per night (base price) room.
If you make the purchase on 12/31 you will not get credit for it as the credit kicks in on Jan 2017
That was a mistake I did last year, you need to allow to get the credit still in December!
Can I put the $200 airline credit in the United travel bank?
If I open A business card using MY name and social as the business name, Will the balance on the credit card still not show up on my personal report. Where does it show?
@Dan:
Officially, how long does the previous business platinum card have to have been closed in order to be able to get the bonus again?
Hi Dan
can you direct me to the link where i can redeem amex airline credit for an amazon card though united?
@Gregg:
Yes.
@ThanksDan:
It won’t show up unless you stop paying the minimum payment.
@Ryan:
No longer works.
it does still work with other vendors using the milage Plus X app, right?
@Ryan:
No.
http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/101316
@Dan:
you wrote: “Third, if you close a business card it won’t ever have an effect on your score.”
Where can I read more about the effect of closing PERSONAL cards, which I did lately because I didn’t know there’s a problem with it? I thought the problem is only if the bank closes my card.
@Josh:
http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/53213
@Gregg: Can you elaborate. How do I go about using the credit for the united Bank?
If I had this card three years ago, can I apply again and receive the bonus?
HI Dan.
First your blog is great and very helpful!
My question is:
I’m having some troubles with my credit report because of my student loan is on default and my two credit cards are way over due (I pay the minimum payment but the balance still growing).
I read your post about Business Credit Cards as a way to cover bad credit report but don’t they check your credit before approval? Also, I read one of your post about consolidating items on the credit report, why does it help?
Any recommendations?
Thanks,
Moish
Question on this, Dan – if I just received the new Amex Platinum a couple of weeks ago, and also have option on my CC portal online to upgrade the GOLD business for 50K with no credit check (has to be done by 12/31), do you think I can get both sets of points?
Does it cost to add additional Cards?
@JB:
Sounds like the platinum card you already have is a personal card and the offer on your portal is for a business platinum. These are two completely different products and you can get both bonuses.
when u say “Try to finish spending a few days before 12/31 in order for the charge to post to your account by 12/3”
Do you mean airline credit spend, or the $5k spend?
I had this card before, cancelled it 2years ago. I can apply with a different business name and diff ein. Will I get the bonus?
My friend got a mail offer for the amex business platinum,100k Points after spending 5k. Can he give ne the offer instead? Is there any risk involved entering his offer number with my information?
I was approved on Monday and I still haven’t received the card so I called and they said they sent it regular mail. So overnight isn’t always used.
I just got an invitation email for only spending $10,000 (instead of $15,000), I just don’t have what to spend on at this point because we already booked tickets. Any advice?
IME the credit is counted for the year received not when charged.
Phone Rep said that the card goes out regular mail.
DROPR?
I re-read your report on “items that qualify for a airline fee refund” but don’t see anything about JetBlue. Do you know if purchasing gift cards on JetBlue will qualify for the refund? Or purchasing a JetBlue ticket? Thanks!
i am planning on buying a couple awards tckts with AA and i was wondering if it was ok to charge the taxes about $300 in order to get the $200 airline fee credit. Thanks
@joew:
Not true at all, IME. Last year, I had a charge date of 12/30, it didn’t posted until 1/1, and the credit posted obviously after that. It counted towards the previous year. It might be YMMV, and I would still encourage people to do the spend sooner rather than later but I believe AMEX uses transaction date for this. So people should still apply now!
@david:
Did not work when I charged AA taxes.
Paying federal taxes is an easy way to meet a threshold.
dan, Please answer above, comment # 43
Hi All
I purchased a cell phone on eBay on my platinum card and was rejected for return protection because I bought from a auction site. Is this a new policy? Is there anything I can do? Is this the end of the great benefit?
Thanks in advance
Do the American airlines $100 gift cards work for the incidental charges.